In the early computing days, companies usually relied on a central mainframe that had all of the computing power and users accessed this through what is called a thin client. However, as hardware became faster, cheaper, and smaller, thin clients largely gave way to individual PCs that each user had sitting at their desk. Interestingly, in some niche areas of computing where it makes sense, we are seeing a push to go back to using a variation of thin clients.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, or VDI for short, is an incredibly complex topic once you get into the fine details, so we will largely be avoiding the in-depth technicalities. Instead, let's discuss the major VDI solutions that are currently available and how Nvidia GRID works to add GPU acceleration to a VDI.

We'll also look at some of the more common advantages and disadvantages of virtual desktops, offer our general impressions on using them for a variety of tasks, and make some educated guesses as to whether virtual desktops truly are the future of computing or if they will likely remain a niche technology.